Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
2.1 Introduction
•Sensing element, the first block diagram represented in the functional block
diagram of measurement system, is the basic and main building blocks of a
measurement system.
•Sensor is defined as a component, device or equipment that detects variation of
input or physical phenomenon and responds (or provides) equivalent electrical or it
may non electrical quantity corresponding to it.
•Often a term transducer is also used for sensing element; literally transducer is
defined as a device that transforms one form or type of energy into another.
• Example: a microphone, a photoelectric cell, an automobile horn, or bulb.
• Sensor is a transducer but transducer is more than a sensor, if it is used for sensing
2
• Advantages of using sensors include
1. Mechanical effects such as friction is reduced to the minimum
possibility
2. Very small power is required for controlling the electrical system
3. The electrical output can be amplified to any desired level
4. The electrical output can be detected and recorded remotely at a
distance from the sensing medium and use modern digital
computers
3
2.2 Classification of sensors
4
• On other hand classification of sensors is given by
• Primary and secondary sensors
• Active and passive sensors
• Analog and Digital sensors
5
Primary and Secondary Sensors
• Secondary sensor
• The output of the primary sensor is fed to another (secondary) sensor that
converts the NEQ to EQ
NEQ NEQ EQ
Load Strain-
cell gauge
Primary Secondary
sensor sensor
Weight Displacement Resistance
(Force F) d R
6
Active and Passive Sensor
• Classification based on the basis of energy conversion
• Active sensor
• Generates voltage/current in response to NEQ variation
• Are also called self-generating sensors
• Normally, the output of active sensors is in V or mV
• Examples
• Thermocouples: A change in temperature produces output voltage
• Photovoltaic cell: Change solar energy into voltage
• Hall-effect sensors, …
NEQ EQ
Active
Ex. Temperature sensors Voltage or current
7
Active and Passive ….
• Passive sensors
• Sensors that does not generate voltage or current, but produce
element variation in R, L, or C
• Need an additional circuit to produce voltage or current variation
• Examples
• Thermistor: Change in temperature leads to change in resistance
• Photo resistor: Change in light leads to change in resistance
• Strain gauge: Change in length or position into change in resistance)
• Microphone
8
Analog and Digital Sensors
· Digital sensor
· Has an output that varies in discrete steps or pulses or sampled form and so can
have a finite number of values
9
Based On the Physical Effect Employed
•When a physical effect employed on the sensing element causes change
in any of the physical parameter (quantity) .
•For example: A strain gauge is a sensor that when subjected to force or
pressure its resistance changes
•The very common variations of electrical quantities from sensing elements
when subjected to physical effect are
1. Variation in resistance
2. Variation in inductance
3. Variation in capacitance 10
I: Resistive sensing elements(Variation in resistance)
11
Resistive Sensors – Temperature Dependent Resistors
• Two classes of thermal resistors are
• Metallic element
• Semiconductor
• For most metals, the resistance increases with increase in
temperature
R (T ) R0 [1 1T 2T 2 ...] R0 [1 T ] )
• Example: Platinum
• Has a linear temperature-resistance characteristics
• Reproducible over a wide range of temperature
• Platinum Thermometers are used for temperature measurement
12
Contd…
• Semiconductor based resistance thermometers elements
• The resistance of such elements decreases with increasing temperature
• Example: Thermistor
• The resistance-temperature relationship is non-linear and governed by
1 1
( )
R (T ) R0 e T T0
; T0 300 0 K
• Where R0 is the resistance at absolute temp (in Kelvin) and is material constant
expressed in degree Kelvin
13
•Apparently a mathematical relation can established between the physical effect
and the resistance.
•Some of the very common sensors which work based up on this principle
are:
Potentiometer; for linear and angular displacement measurement,
Resistance thermometer( resistance temperature detectors( RTD), thermistor; for
temperature measurement
Strain gauge; for stress measurement such as; pressure ,force ,torque
Photoresistor (photoconductor) , for light intensity measurement
14
Resistive sensor: Potentiometer for linear and angular
displacement
• A resistive potentiometer is a resistance wire wound on a former provided with a sliding
contact and excited by dc or ac voltage source.
• The movement of the slider can be translational, rotational or combination of these two.
• They are the most commonly used type of sensor mainly for linear and angular
displacement measurement
Where x and 0 are linear and angular displacement, and K is the sensitivity
The sensitivity is the rate of output voltage per input displacement and is given by
Vin . V0
K
L X
• The resolution of a potentiometer is the smallest change in displacement
that can be measured or identified.
• If the excitation is fixed then it is the smallest change in resistance that can
be identified by slider movement
17
To measure physical parameters using a potentiometer, there are important
factors that need to be considered in designing or functioning of the instrument.
These are;
Heat dissipating capacity: The maximum input voltage is limited on account
of potentiometer heat dissipating capacity and is give by;
Vin PRT , where RT = Total Resistance of the potentiometer, P= Power P=IV (Electric Power)
The loading effect: Potentiometers are linear devices how ever their linearity
is affected by loading effect thus a care must be taken to avoid a loading effect
due to internal resistance of next stage elements such as; measuring
instrument like voltmeter(if used to measure the output voltage).
The resolution and sensitivity.
18
•Example: Consider the Linear displacement measurement circuit of fig above with
input voltage of 5-volt the output voltage is 2.5-volt. The total resistance element
length is 100mm. The Linear displacement of an object causes the sliding contact to
move such that the output voltage 2.65-volt. Determine the displacement of the
object and the direction to which it moves.
• Solution
• Given Vo=2.5,Vin=5 and L=100mm, the displacement X can be obtained from the
eqn
• Vo=
21
Measurement using RTD
Lead wire resistance can also be a factor because RTDs are low-resistance
devices, care must be taken in wiring and measuring RTDs to avoid errors
caused by lead resistance
•Limitations:
RTDs in industrial applications are rarely used above 660
Compared to thermistors, platinum RTDs are less sensitive to small
temperature changes and have a slower response time.
However, thermistors have a smaller temperature range and stability. 23
Thermistor
•A thermistor is a type of resistor whose resistance varies
24
•The resistance RT of a thermistor at a temperature (T) can be expressed
by the equation:
25
•If k is negative, the resistance decreases with increasing temperature, and
the device is called a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor.
•Resistors that are not thermistors are designed to have a k as close to
zero as possible (smallest possible k), so that their resistance remains nearly
constant over a wide temperature range.
27
• Example: a platinum resistance thermometer (RTD) has a resistance of
100ῼ at and its temperature coefficient of resistance at is .
a. find the resistance at
b. if the thermometer has a resistance of 150ῼ, find the temperature?
Solution:
(- ῼ
28
Resistive Sensors – Strain Gauges
•Strain is the amount of deformation of a body due to an applied force. More
specifically, strain (ε) is defined as the fractional change in length,
•A strain gauge takes advantage of the physical property of
electrical conductance and its dependence on not merely the electrical conductivity
of a conductor, which is a property of its material, but also the conductor's geometry.
•When an electrical conductor is stretched within the limits of its elasticity such
that it does not break or permanently deform, it will become narrower and longer,
changes that increase its electrical resistance end-to-end.
• Conversely, when a conductor is compressed such that it does not buckle, it will
broaden and shorten changes that decrease its electrical resistance end-to-end. 29
Figure :Stress and strain:
(a) Effect of tensile stress (b) Effect of compressive strain
Poisson Ratio
Poisson ratio is the ratio of transverse contraction (or expansion) strain to
longitudinal extension strain in the direction of stretching force. Tensile
deformation is considered positive and compressive deformation is considered
negative. The definition of Poisson ratio contains a minus sign so that normal
materials have a positive ratio.
30
Cont.….
Strain gauge
•A fundamental parameter of the strain gauge is its sensitivity to strain, expressed
quantitatively as the gauge factor (GF).
•Gauge factor is defined as the ratio of fractional change in electrical resistance to the
fractional change in length (strain):
31
Cont.….
• Is a secondary transducer that senses tensile or
compressive strain in a particular direction at a point on
the surface of a body or structure
• Used to measure force, pressure, displacement
R R (e)
• Where e=l/l is the strain
• The resistance of an unstrained conductor is given as
l
R
A
34
Cont.…
• Then, Gauge Factor, G is defined as
R/R R/R
G
l / l eL
36
SEMICONDUCTOR STRAIN GAUGE
Semiconductor gauge are used in application where a high gauge factor
is desired.
The semiconductor gauge depends for their action upon the piezo-resistive
effect i.e. change in value of resistance due to change in resistivity.
Silicon and germanium are used as resistive material for semiconductor
gauges.
37
Thank You for your
attention!
38